(1) Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to an audio headphone or hearing aid device and, more particularly, to a headphone or hearing aid device that allows for compensation of imperfections in the listener""s hearing.
(2) Description of Prior Art
The most popular current means of personal on-demand audio entertainment is delivered by means of headphones connected to a source device by wires. The sound source may be portable as in the typical Walkman (registered trade name) device shown in FIG. 1. Here the audio content is stored in magnetic, optical or solid state media (not shown) housed within the player 10. The signals from these media are converted to audio signals that are amplified prior to delivery by wires 12 to transducers within headphones or earphones 14. Other sound sources may not be portable such as typical home stereo systems.
Hearing-impaired persons are fitted with hearing aids, sometimes in both ears. Transducers for both headphones and hearing aids are typically electro-mechanical devices that cannot be matched during manufacturing within reasonable costs. The auditory responses of both left and right ears are not perfectly matched; however, current headphone devices assume that they are. With imperfections of both the transducers and the ears, the auditory perception of the position of the audio source may be shifted from the original location. If measurements are made of the ear responses and correctional hearing aids manufactured, proper correction may not be achieved due to imprecise matching of transducers.
Several methods have been devised for improvement of hearing aid devices. U.S. Pat. No. 6,104,822 to Melanson et al. describes a hearing aid device with multiple user selectable digital signal processing methods for improving hearing under different listening environments. U.S. Pat. No. 6,128,392 and European Patent 0 933 970 A2 to Leysieffer et al. describe a hearing aid device using finite impulse response filtering to achieve feedback compensation. Hanson (European Patent 0 634 084 B1) describes a hearing aid feedback compensation device where adaption rates vary depending upon signal conditions. U.S. Pat. No. 5,500,902 to Stockham, Jr. et al. describes a hearing aid device with a plurality of bandpass filters each with a corresponding automatic gain control. This allows volume compensation over different frequency ranges. U.S. Pat. No. 6,072,885 also to Stockham, Jr. et al. expands the previous invention by providing separate low and high frequency output transducers.
Improvements have also been made in the spatial perception experience for audio listeners. U.S. Pat. No. 5,136,651 to Cooper et al. describes an audio system whereby compensation for head diffraction is accomplished. U.S. Pat. No. 5,939,656 to Suda describes an audio system that compensates for the differences in frequency and sound image location between speakers and headphones. U.S. Pat. No. 6,005,947 to Lim describes an acoustic processing system that mimics the quality of an acoustically ideal listening room. U.S. Pat. No. 6,111,958 to Maher describes an audio processing system that improves the spatial imaging of signals.
The wires often used in headphone systems can impede motion of the user and are prone to failure due to handling. Several methods have been devised to eliminate this problem. One such method is U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,293 to Nakagawa shown in FIG. 2 where the player 10 and headphones 14 are separated. The two units are coupled by radio frequency signals allowing transmission of the audio signal to a smaller, less cumbersome, remote unit 18. The headphones 14 still use wires 12. The remote unit 18 allows control of the player 10 functions such as volume, fast forward, etc. Vertical Horizon markets a headphone unit (Korea patent pending number 99-24278) that allows downloading of 32 Mbytes of MP3 audio content from a computer parallel port. In this case, the storage and controls are all contained within the headphone unit. Downloading is accomplished through a wired connection. Sennheiser markets a wireless listening system where a transmitter unit is connected to an audio source. This is coupled via a 900 MHz radio frequency signal to a pair of headphones.
A principal object of the present invention is to provide an audio headphone device having an interactive process whereby compensation for imperfections in the hearing of the user may be accomplished.
A second object of the present invention is to provide an audio headphone device having an interactive process where compensation for imperfections in the hearing of the user may be accomplished and where correction information may be stored within the headphone device.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an audio headphone device having an interactive process where compensation for imperfections in the hearing of the user may be accomplished and where correction information may be stored within the sound source.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an audio headphone device having an interactive process where compensation for imperfections in the hearing of the user may be accomplished and where correction information may be stored within a personal computer.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an audio headphone device having an interactive process provided by a personal computer or other sound source whereby compensation for imperfections in the hearing of the user may be accomplished.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide an audio headphone device having an interactive process whereby compensation for imperfections in the hearing of the user may be accomplished where connection to the sound source is achieved using wireless means such as infrared, radio frequency or electromagnetic means.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a hearing aid device having an interactive process whereby compensation for imperfections in the hearing of the user may be accomplished.
A yet further object of the present invention is to provide a hearing aid device having an interactive process where compensation for imperfections in the hearing of the user may be accomplished and where correction information may be stored within the hearing aid device.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a hearing aid device having an interactive process provided by a personal computer or other sound source whereby compensation for imperfections in the hearing of the user may be accomplished.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a device having an interactive process provided by a personal computer or other sound source whereby compensation for imperfections in the transducers may be accomplished.
These objects are achieved using a system with a headphone or hearing aid unit and a sound source. Programming of the headphone or hearing aid is accomplished using an interactive and iterative process delivered by a personal computer (PC) or similar device. The user is prompted to listen to various signals delivered by the PC thereby testing the frequency response of each ear and headphone combination. Once the testing is completed, individualized compensation factors are created to optimize the listening experience for the user. In the case of a hearing aid device, these compensation factors would be stored within the hearing aids and could be downloaded by wire or by wireless means such as infrared, radio frequency, magnetic or electromagnetic coupling. In headphone units, the compensation factors could be stored within the headphones or at the sound source. In addition, headphone units may be operated by wireless means using infrared, radio frequency, magnetic coupling or other electromagnetic means for both testing and audio listening modes.